YOUR VIEWS Stick to your own side
Some idiotic Tasmanian drivers quite clearly have no idea of how to drive a car and stay on their own side of the road. I actually wonder if they even have a licence. When is a campaign going to be started to persuade drivers that it would be in their best interests to stay on their own side of the road? If that happens then head-on crashes would be totally avoided. Ian Martindale, Ellendale
ABOVE: A still from dash cam footage supplied by Ian Martindale.
Cut down on speed
I was listening to BBC radio with regard to trained volunteers using laser speed cameras throughout Britain. This had a definite effect on motorists because it was proven that it caused a remarkable change in attitude to speeding. Also it allowed police to carry out their further duties. After hearing the interview I began to think of other ideas concerning speeding. One idea is to utilise a GPS navigation system that could light up a sign at the rear of the car stating the present speed limit. This may have the effect of reminding following traffic of the present speed limit. If this system was fitted to lots of vehicles then I believe that it would have a positive effect on drivers. If there were many of these systems installed, then the message could be spread quickly. Of course there would have to be an override for when there were temporary speed restrictions in place. After all, how many of us have missed seeing the small speed limit signs by the side of the road and wondered later what the speed limit now is?
where I was able to get off the carriageway safely. The issue was diagnosed as a ruptured pressure accumulator in the dual clutch transmission, which caused the effect of the car being in neutral. The quoted cost of this repair was $4500 if the transmission specialist could replace the part, or $6500 for a new transmission. There was some delay in the repair taking place and three months had passed when a family member happened upon a recent news article that Volkswagen (VW) was recalling 65,000 VW and Skoda cars to replace the exact part that had failed on my car. The date range was from 2009-2015. I had purchased the car second-hand, so had not even thought to register it with VW to be made aware of the recall when it happened. So I would have been unaware of the recall except for that article and paid for the repair when it finally occurred. The car has since been repaired by VW for free and is now back on the road, and I have registered it with VW to be notified of any future recalls. My story had a happy ending, but how many other Golf and Skoda owners over the last 10 years have either paid for the repair themselves or lost money on resale due to the faulty part; or worse, had it fail in a place where they could not avoid an accident occurring when their car went into neutral unexpectedly? Perhaps somebody in RACT could monitor
Vic Arthur, Sulphur Creek
Vehicle recall warning
Back in July this year, my 2011 Volkswagen Golf appeared to lose all power and forward motion as I was travelling home from work. Thankfully, this occurred in the left-hand lane of the East Tamar Highway near the Mowbray turnoff,
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12 Journeys
DECEMBER 2019 / JANUARY 2020